I really enjoy reading all of the trip plans and reports on this site. I am always impressed by the contributions and suggestions by experienced travelers, therefore I'm asking for any advice or suggestions on a route I've planned for my wife and I to ride 2 up the first 2 weeks of September.

Starting and ending in Heidelberg we plan to stay in the following towns:

Not sure how tight it will be between Talloires and Embrun. Also concerned about Vaison-la-Romaine to the Gorges du Verdun and making the stops at the aquaduct and viaduct. Was going to go through Arles as well but I think that's too much.

Hopefully the weather will be decent but I'm not sure about how cold it might be in the upper elevations this time of year.

I bought a R1200GS last year that was kept at Stefan Knopf's and we are going to try to do 1 or 2 trips a year for the next several years. We have done a couple of Beach's trips (Classic Alps and central Italy) and got hooked but we are looking forward to touring on our own. Here's the route I've got planned for this trip.

Thanks in advance.

Moderator: I mistakenly posted this in the Europe Regional Forum the first time.

Just back to my home base and I checked your route. The map was not detailed enough for me to see the exact track, but for the most part it looks good. Just a suggestion: when you get to Pontarlier, turn east and take the D437 that goes along the Lac de St. Point; when you get to St. Laurent-en-Grandvaux, turn east to Les Rousses then to Gex via the Col de la Faucille, then head to Annecy. IMO, to Bourg-en-Bresse is flat and straight, which we don't want to do in the Alps.

If you have a Google map or similar that you could post that gives more detail, I'd be happy to take a look. I think you'll be okay with the weather. If you're lucky, you'll have sunshine and then the temps will be good, even at altitude. That said, we've had a lousy summer this year. Just play it by ear.

Thanks RTLover...that's the kind of tip(s) I'm looking for.I was trying to skirt around areas that appear might be congested but I'll adjust my route per your suggestion.

I did this in BaseCamp and I'm still trying to figure out how to copy over to Google Maps to share more detail. I found GPS Visualizer and was successful converting the first few days of riding but I'm still working on how to place that file in my Google Maps that can be shared with a link. I'm still a relative novice at using a GPS and BaseCamp to this extent but I'm slowly figuring it out.

About 75% of my route through the Alps is on the Route des Grande Alpes. There have been a good deal of recommendations to ride it so why not. I assume if the weather is bad I can drop down to a valley road. I would rather play it by ear as far as travel days but due to the amount of ground we want to cover and hotels apparently still a bit busy I booked rooms ahead of time. I assume allowing 50 kph average in the Alps should be reasonable.